For the most part, people want to be fair in how they view their public officials and public agencies. While we often hear bellicose venting about public leaders, for the most part people aren’t as bias as they sometimes pretend.
Overall, I think this year’s public officials report card (see below) is a pretty good reflection of how Jackson Countians feel about their public leaders.
A few thoughts about these results:

• The people who hold the most controversial positions are generally ranked below than those who have a lower profile. That’s to be expected since controversy tends to polarize public opinion.
• It’s interesting to note that county manager Kevin Poe was rated higher than the board he works for. That speaks to Poe’s ability to run the county on a day-to-day basis, yet avoid the larger controversies.
• Speaking of the BOC, the board’s priorities for the year appear to be out-of-sync with the public’s priorities. The BOC’s top priority to build an ag facility was the lowest rated priority by citizens. There’s a disconnect there.
• With the priorities, I was surprised that planning for warehouse growth didn’t rank in the top five on the priority list, given the amount of controversy that has surrounded warehouse developments.
• There was some other disconnect in the results. Although readers ranked addressing drug abuse problems high at #3, they rated the local drug and mental health courts only a C+ while other courts and judicial officials ranked a B- or higher. Why?
• Given the amount of controversy over the last few years in the county school system, I wasn’t surprised that the county BOE rated only a C on the report card. But I was surprised that superintendent April Howard, who guided the system out of the recession and is leading the move to build a high school near Braselton, didn’t rank higher than a C+. That may be due to the system’s controversies in consolidating school facilities on the eastside of the county.
• Overall, the public showed a lot of support for the community’s various emergency service agencies, from EMS, E911, fire departments and most law enforcement agencies. Those core services are important to people.
• I wasn’t surprised that the Pendergrass City Council got the report card’s lowest grade with a D-. Years of mismanagement and controversy have destroyed that town’s image. Likewise, the Nicholson City Council also ranked low with a C-, likely due to the abuse of that government by its former mayor who landed in jail for having misused SPLOST funds.
• Given the amount of push-back about the consolidation of the county’s voting locations, I was surprised that the county board of elections rated so high with a B.
• The DFCS board rated higher than I thought it would with a C+. That’s a disconnect, too, since improving DFCS services was #4 on the priority list.
• Rep. Tommy Benton is in political trouble. His ranking of a C- was the lowest individual grade on the report card. In addition, the results of the poll indicate that he is ripe to be unseated in the upcoming elections.
• Another curious finding: Readers ranked improving education programs at #2 on the priority list, but completing the new westside high school only #9. I find that odd.
• Note that three of the top five priorities involve crime and/or unstable families. Those are indeed very large problems in the community.

Mike Buffington is co-publisher of Mainstreet Newspapers. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS — MUNICIPAL
Town of Braselton Council B
Town of Braselton Planning Commission. C+
City of Jefferson Council C+
Jefferson/Talmo Planning Commission. C+
Jefferson City Board of Education B
City of Commerce Council C
City of Commerce Planning Commission. C+
Commerce City Board of Education C+
City of Hoschton Council C+
City of Arcade Council C
City of Nicholson Council C-
City of Pendergrass Council D-
City of Talmo Council B-
City of Maysville Council C

If there was a way to abolish the City of Nicholson and the City of Arcade, we should….County BOC isn’t much better… Sheriff Mangum’s anti-gun stance has no place in Jackson County or America.

The infrastructure needs our tax dollars. The taxpaying citizens of Jackson County should be allowed to vote on the agricultural facility…Donald Trump’s negatives are innumerable. 60% of the people can see this, but for inexplicable reasons Sen. David Perdue, Sen. Tom Cotton and the other 40% cannot see Trump’s divisive actions or hear his foul mouth…

Warehouses should be placed along Concord Road and in other industrial areas. Warehouses bring low-paying jobs and will bring down the image of Jackson County.

Municipalities and unincorporated Jackson County need to develop plans to prevent the continued explosion of warehouses in the county…

Property taxes in Jefferson should have been reduced in 2017…

Very disappointed with Sen. Perdue’s comments about President Trump’s language…it would be nice if our Washingotn representatives would want to do what is best for our country (not just to follow their party’s ways.)

Some Jackson County municipalities should not exist. School boards’ taxing authority should be limited more than it is.

School board should not have taxing authority!

Stop “big box” building; bring strip malls with supermarkets and misc. shops…a Super Walmart is needed…Commerce needs to stop the big trucks traveling through town…Rep. Benton help seniors get an exemption on property taxes regarding schools after age 72…bring manufacturing jobs to Ga.

Animal control: Very slow response on calls about dog problems. Field personnel need more training on catching dogs. Tax assessor: Phillip Smith, this man is a pleasure to deal with…

Put voting precincts back in towns. Stupid move to take voting out of towns. You will see less voters going to polls…

Maysville’s biggest expense is the police department. We are covered by the Jackson County deputies on any emergency call. The police department has no phone or switchboard. Must call 911 to relay any emergencies needed quickly. …

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